Let’s stop imagining Fall/Winter in dark colours and always using the same fabrics! This thought must have crossed at some point the mind of Priya Ahluwalia, founder and creative director of the brand that bears her name. Forgive the boldness of making such an assumption, but surely it has, especially after seeing “Reveries”, the proposal for both seasons presented recently in an ambient and ethereal soundscape devised by Tom Tripp, inside Central Hall Westminster, during London Fashion Week.
Priya didn’t want to fall into the obvious and do what the rest do, design a commercial offering full of black leather or nylon garments, and has chosen to go beyond, as usual, staying true to her design style. What has she done this time? Create based on the results of extensive research into different cultures and themes, such as moral scriptures based on the African and Indian continents, in particular “The Prince Who Wanted the Moon” and “How the Leopard Got His Spots”; or contemporary traditional artists who speak of the realms of myth in their works, like Jayasri Burman, the late Laxman Pai, Raja Ravi Varma. Having received inspiration, an indispensable element, the designer locked herself in the place where she works magic and elevates clothes to the status of objects of desire, her studio.
Which of the pieces seen on the British catwalk are considered as such? Many of them, for example, the choli tops with draping and long tails on the side typical of the Vedic era, the printed shirts (some also with draping and long tails) that come from the body painting technique of the Igbo village, the football polo shirts, or the cardigans made of merino wool and felted yarn with hand embroidery that refer to the mythical world of the Indian gods, among others.
To this selection, we must add the denim garments designed in collaboration with Levi’s® and belong to the capsule called “Levi’s® reimagined by Ahluwalia”, composed of 3 looks, 1 for men. All the pieces were specially made with denim reworked and supplied by the American company and stand out for being sculpted to the body and for being clear representative elements of the symbols found in the collection’s research. As for men’s fashion, we can find a set of oversize tailored trench coat, blazer and jeans with wavy panels that reflect the fluidity of fantasies and stories.
Footwear, always the finishing touch to looks, stepped onto the catwalk in the form of the Chikari corrugated leather boot, available in black, pink, and brown; and the moccasin, called Atasa, which stands out with its orange and green leather plate detail, a staple for men.
Have a look at the Ahluwalia Fall/Winter 2024 collection below:
